Upaniṣads · Kaṭharudra 24
॥
Devanāgarī
असत्यस्मिन्परानन्दे स्वात्मभूतेऽखिलात्मनाम् । को जीवति नरो जन्तुः को वा नित्यं विचेष्टते
Transliteración (IAST)
asatyasminparānande svātmabhūte'khilātmanām | ko jīvati naro jantuḥ ko vā nityaṃ viceṣṭate
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
असति अस्मिन् पर-आनन्देasati asmin para-ānandewere this supreme bliss not present
स्व-आत्म-भूते अखिल-आत्मनाम्sva-ātma-bhūte akhila-ātmanāmhaving become one's own for all selves
कः जीवति नरः जन्तुःkaḥ jīvati naraḥ jantuḥwho would live — man or creature?
कः वा नित्यं विचेष्टतेkaḥ vā nityaṃ viceṣṭateor who would move ceaselessly?
Traducción
Were this supreme bliss, having become one's own for all selves, not present — who would live, man or creature? Or who would move ceaselessly?
Versión
15067d28d206 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The verse repeats the famous argument of the Taittirīya: "who would breathe, who would live, if this bliss were not in space?" (2.7). This argument is worth setting out in simple words, for it is the finest of its kind. Everything living moves; and it does not move aimlessly, but toward something — food, warmth, a mate, rest. That is, every movement of a living thing presupposes that somewhere there is something worth moving toward.
If there were no delight anywhere at all, motion would cease of itself: no one rises for nothing. But it does not cease — hence delight exists; and that the living reach for it is testimony to its existence, not its absence. It is worth noting the phrase sva-ātma-bhūte akhila-ātmanām, "having become one's own for all selves." Bliss is named not foreign and distant, but become one's own for each; that is, access to it belongs to everyone, not as another's property, but as one's own.
It is worth noting also who is listed: naro jantuḥ, "man or creature." The argument is extended to all that lives, not only to people and not only to sages. A worm stirs for the same reason a person rises in the morning; and the book makes no distinction between them where the source of motion is concerned.